Moving  Pictures  of  the  Doctor’s 
Compound 

Dr.  Lucy  Bement 
By  Mrs.  Ozora  S.  Davis 


An  hour  is  a very  short  time — except  sometimes,  when 
it  is  very  long!  Possibly  the  reader  may  remember  some 
day  when  it  seemed  an  hour  would  never  pass.  Some 
dear  one  of  your  family  may  have  been  suffering,  and 


Coming  away  from  the  Hospital— a Happy  Family. 

when  you  hurriedly  called  the  doctor’s  office  the  physician 
was  not  at  home,  so  you  waited  one  hour,  two  hours,  three 
hours  perhaps,  until  he  came  to  relieve  the  pain.  But 
what  if  there  had  been  no  doctor  at  all  to  summon,  no 
relief  for  the  dear  mother  or  the  little  girl? 

Since  the  secluded  women  of  China  are  strictly  forbid- 
den by  custom  to  be  visited  by  a man,  the  women  of  the 
great  district  around  Shaowu  were  wholly  without  medical 


aid  until  the  coming  of  Dr.  Lucy  Bement.  One  million 
women  and  children  without  a doctor’s  knowledge  or  serv- 
ice! ' It  was  a tremendous  need.  Seldom  in  this  civilized 
age  teeming  with  trained  workers  of  every  sort,  is  there 
so  large  an  empty  spot  in  the  world’s  work,  crying  out 
for  someone  to  fill  it.  Indeed  it  is  hard  to  realize  in 
crowded  America,  where  numberless  unemployed  are  beg- 
ging for  tasks,  where  competition  is  so  intense,  and  the 
contention  for  opportunity  so  fierce,  that  anyone  could 
be  quite  so  sorely  needed  as  was  Dr.  Bement. 

She  was  born  in  Ohio.  With  her  sister,  Miss  Frances 
Bement,  she  attended  the  public  school  in  the  village  of 
West  Dover,  not  so  very  far  from  beautiful  Lake  Erie. 
Sunday  School  was  held  in  the  little  school-house,  but 
sometimes  the  sisters  walked  to  the  church  three  miles 
away,  and  later  they  became  members  of  the  Second  Con- 
gregational Church  of  Olmstead.  They  both  entered  high 
school  in  Elyria  in  1887. 

Miss  Bement’s  first  missionary  service  was  in  the  home 
field  under  the  American  Missionary  Association.  For 
two  years  she  taught  at  Pine  Mountain,  Tenn.  Then  not 
content  with  her  previous  study,  she  went  to  Massachusetts 
where  she  graduated  from  the  Training  School  for  Nurses 
in  Newburyport  in  1893  and  four  years  later  she  took 
her  diploma  from  the  Medical  College  in  Baltimore.  It 
was  a splendid  preparation  for  the  w’ork  which  was  before 
her — a country  childhood,  teaching  experience  among  the 
poorer  people  of  the  soqth,  and  adequate  training  in  nurs- 
ing and  medicine.  In  1898  the  two  sisters  went  to 
Shaowu. 

"File  journey  was  and  is  still  a long  one.  Even  after 
Foochow  was  reached  there  was  still  the  long  trip  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  up  the  Min  River  to  the  inland 
station  where  no  unmarried  woman  had  ever  lived  before. 
The  boat  was  so  large  and  so  heavily  loaded,  and  so  many 
stops  were  made  for  the  sale  of  the  cargo  that  twenty- 
eight  days  were  required  for  the  journey.  Finally  at  Crys- 

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tal  Hill  the  sisters  left  the  river-boat  aiul  walked  or  rode 
in  sedan  chairs  until  sunset,  when  they  came  to  the  home 
of  Dr.  Walker,  our  American  Board  Missionary.  The 
following  morning,  three  miles  farther,  they  reached  at 
last  the  city  of  Shaowu  which  was  to  be  their  home. 

It  is  in  many  ways  a lovely  country.  In  this  province 
there  afe  long,  almost  unbroken  stretches  of  hills  and 
mountains.  The  rivers  are  rocky  and  very  swift,  difficult 


Dr.  Lucy  P.  Bement. 


and  dangerous  highways,  along  which  nearly  all  travelling 
must  be  done.  Deep  ravines  add  to  the  difficulty  of  many 
journeys.  There  are  climbs  through  bamboo  rivers  up, 
up,  two  thousand  feet,  then  down,  down,  on  the  other  side, 
then  along  a mountain  brook  with  hardly  a path  beside  it. 
In  some  spots  there  is  almost  a jungle  of  palms,  ferns, 
bamboos,  and  banana  trees,  while  many  varieties  of  beauti- 
ful flowers, — lilies,  begonias  and  others — add  beauty  to 
the  scene.  It  has  been  called  the  “Switzerland  of  China.” 
Wild  beasts  too  are  not  lacking.  Several  tigers  were 
killed  within  five  or  six  miles  of  the  station  during  the 

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last  year  or  two,  and  Dr.  Bement  tells  in  one  letter  of  a 
cobra  killed  only  a few  feet  from  the  house. 

In  the  midst  of  this  wild  country  in  a little  house  near 
the  East  Gate  of  Shaowu,  a building  condemned  years 
before  as  untenantable  Dr.  Bement  and  her  sister  took  up 
their  abode. 

Work  began  at  once.  The  dining-room,  for  lack  of  a 
better  place  was  used  as  doctor’s  office,  and  here  Dr.  Bem- 
ent began  to  treat  patients  whom  the  native  druggist  sent 
to  her,  spending  also  as  much  time  as  possible  every  day 
on  the  language. 

These  beginnings  were  interrupted  by  the  Boxer  upris- 
ing. Dr.  and  Miss  Bement  found  refuge  in  a mountain 
near  Foochow,  and  when  they  returned  they  found  not  a 
door  or  window  of  their  home  was  left,  the  floors  and  walls 
had  been  mostly  torn  out,  and  the  building  almost  de- 
stroyed. Everything  had  been  looted,  but  the  roof  still 
remained  and  in  one  room  up-stairs  almost  three  feet  of 
floor  was  left.  By  putting  down  loose  boards  they  set  up 
some  beds,  and  here  they  began  house  keeping  once  more. 

In  1892  a girls  school  building  and  dispensary  were 
built.  The  latter  became  a part  of  the  Sarah  Parker 
M emorial  Hospital,  for  which  the  money  was  given  by 
Iowa  friends  in  memory  of  an  officer  of  their  branch.  Still 
later,  after  a furlough  here,  a home  for  the  missionaries 
was  erected. 

The  oversight  of  the  erection  of  these  buildings  has 
added  a tremendous  burden  to  the  labors  of  Dr.  Bement 
during  the  past  years.  Building  a hospital  in  Shaowu  is 
a very  different  matter  from  a similar  undertaking  in 
America. 

First  of  all  the  foundations  must  be  very  deep  and  strong. 
I'he  soil  is  very  unstable,  so  in  some  places  it  has  been 
necessary  to  dig  down  fifteen  feet.  Late  at  night  after 
her  day’s  work  Dr.  Bement  watched  and  directed  the  force 
of  about  forty  men  as  they  dug  the  trenches  and  laid  the 
big  stones.  Most  of  the  masons  were  unskilled,  so  it  was 

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Dr.  Bement  in  1915. 


necessary  for  the  doctor  herself  to  descend  into  the 
trenches  seven  feet  deep,  to  see  whether  any  stones  were 
loose.  These  foundations  were  made  of  stones  weighing 
fifty  to  a hundred  pounds  each  with  smaller  ones  in  the 
center,  and  the  testing  required  the  expenditure  of  much 
strength. 

It  has  been  very  difficult  many  times  to  secure  these 
foundation  stones.  Many  of  them  are  picked  up  along 
the  bed  of  the  river  and  carried  half  a mile  or  more  to  the 
place  of  building.  On  account  of  disturbing  the  great 
dragon,  or  any  spirits  of  the  ancestors,  many  rocks  which 
might  otherwise  have  been  easily  procured  were  unobtain- 
able. 

After  the  foundation  had  been  laid  and  allowed  to  settle 
through  a rainy  season,  it  was  necessary  to  find  the  brick 
for  the  building  itself.  But  there  was  no  brick,  as  in  this 
country,  ready  to  be  had  for  the  buying.  Finally  two  men 
were  found,  who  wanted  to  make  brick  and  as  they  were 
said  to  be  responsible,  the  missionaries  hired  them  to  make 
60,000.  When  7.000  had  been  made  extremely  cold 
weather  came  on,  and  the  undried  bricks  froze.  About 
2,000  only  could  be  used.  New  difficulties  were  encount- 
ered in  the  burning.  Dr.  Bement  with  one  man  was 
obliged  to  test  every  brick  which  was  accepted.  If  it  rang  it 
was  supposed  to  be  good ; if  not  it  was  laid  aside.  Some- 
one suggested  at  this  time  that  the  hospital  be  called 
“Every-brick-rung  hospital.” 

At  last  the  much  anticipated  hospital  was  finished,  in- 
cluding a dispensary,  house  for  the  native  hospital  assis- 
tants, and  one  used  as  a kitchen,  laundry  and  store-room. 
It  was  indeed  a wonderful  building,  not  only  to  the  mis- 
sionaries who  had  toiled  so  long  and  waited  so  anxiously 
for  its  completion,  but  to  all  the  neighboring  country. 
Hundreds  came  to  see  it,  and  many  would  sit  down  and 
look  and  listen  to  the  work  by  the  hour. 

There  was  no  need  to  wait  for  patients.  Many  cases 
of  fever  and  dysentery,  people  with  sores  and  bad  eyes 

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were  very  common.  There  were  almost  always  a few 
abscesses  to  open  or  slight  operations  to  perform  among 
the  other  work  of  the  day.  After  the  early  morning  visits 
in  the  hospital,  and  perhaps  a short  talk  by  the  river,  where 
sometimes  wild  pheasants  flew  across  her  path, — came  the 
office  hours  of  the  morning. 

Dr.  Bement  gives  us  the  picture  of  such  a day.  “Almost 
ten  o’clock  the  women  begin  to  come.  They  have  had  time 
to  do  up  their  hair  in  the  wonderful  fantastic  way  in 
which  they  do  it  and  then  come  by  two’s  and  three’s  and 
in  groups  and  parties — of  course  each  one  has  the  most 
important  thing  that  ever  came  to  the  hospital,  she  must 
tell  it  over  and  over  to  the  doctor  and  have  her  friends 
explain  it  also  lest  it  should  not  be  understood. 

“This  woman  has  brought  her  day  old  baby  15  miles 
in  a chair  because  of  a deformity  which  she  is  rightly  sure 
will  cause  its  death  if  not  rectified  by  this  foreign  doctor. 
This  woman  had  appendicitis  some  time  ago,  and  now  has 
an  opening  into  the  abdomen  as  a result. 

“Those  who  have  come  in  chairs  are  too  sick  and  miser- 
able to  think  of  combing  their  hair  or  anything  else  but  to 
get  relief  if  possible.  This  woman  has  come  from  a 
country  village  some  distance  away.  She  has  had  her 
mouth  like  that  for  two  weeks  because  of  a dislocated  jaw, 
which  causes  great  admiration  as  it  slips  into  place,  and 
the  woman  most  cautiously,  opens  her  mouth,  to  see  if 
it  will  slip  back  again.  This  woman  has  brought  her  two 
little  children — she  has  little  feet  and  walked  and  carried 
one  child  and  hired  a man  to  carry  the  other  two  days 
journey  because  the  little  one  had  convulsions.  And  then 
the  great  host  of  people  who  have  malaria  and  all  sorts 
of  bowel  trouble,  and  tuberculosis,  and  ulcers  and  absces- 
ses, and  bad  eyes,  ears,  and  so  on  and  so  on  till  one  wonders 
where  it  will  end,  and  all  the  time  the  three  Biblewomen 
are  telling  the  Old,  Old  Story  of  Jesus  and  his  love  and 
of  their  sisters  in  America  who  have  made  it  possible  for 
them  to  get  this  help  and  learn  of  the  Great  Healer  of 

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the  Nations,  and  after  they  have  gone  we  have  time  to 
go  over  the  hospital  and  do  what  is  needed  and  perhaps 
to  make  a number  of  calls  to  the  city.” 

Among  these  busy  days  in  the  office  and  city  Dr.  Bement 
must  find  time  also  for  journeys  to  less  fortunate  til- 
lages of  the  district.  Some  of  the  patients  there  have 
waited  weeks  or  months  for  help.  Think  of  it — only  one 
or  perhaps  two  opportunities  in  all  the  year  to  consult  a 
doctor ! The  space  around  Dr.  Bement  in  the  court-yard 
or  wherever  she  receives  them  is  crowded  with  patients, 
many  of  them  mothers  bearing  their  sick  children,  and 
with  rapid  but  sure  judgment,  she  must  wTork  here  hour 
after  hour  until  these  pitiful  groups  of  humanity  are  all 
helped.  Would  it  be  any  wonder  if  Dr.  Bement  were 
sometimes  very  tired  and  sorely  in  need  of  rest? 

But  there  is  slight  opportunity  for  rest — either  in  Shao- 
wu  or  the  neighboring  country.  How  can  a doctor  rest 
when  someone  below  is  asking  that  she  come  and  care  for 
a woman  who  is  suffering  or  dying ; how  can  a missionary 
close  her  door  and  rest  wffien  she  knows  little  children 
are  ill  and  need  her?  Surely  Dr.  Bement  should  be  given 
the  three  thousand  dollars  for  which  she  has  asked  that 
the  much  needed  children’s  ward  may  be  added  to  the 
hospital,  and  we  should  send  her  the  assistant  doctor  for 
whom  she  has  wished  so  long.  Several  graduates  from  the 
hospital  have  already  gone  to  Peking  to  study  in  the 
Woman’s  Medical  School  there,  and  perhaps  she  may  later 
have  help  from  some  of  these.  But  another  American 
doctor  is  needed  also.  Let  us  give  and  pray  much  for  our 
brave — efficient— builder — missionary — doctor,  Lucy  Bem- 
ent. 


WOMAN’S  BOARD  OF  MISSIONS  OF  THE  INTERIOR 
(Congregational) 

19  South  La  Salle  Street.  Room  1315 
Chicago 

1916 


